Diablo 4 Year 1: 5 Changes That Could Make The Game Better

Diablo 4 excels in being a polished and accessible modern AAA ARPG. It's surprisingly also one of the most successful live-service game releases ever, whether in terms of its overall quality, the sheer amount of content it offers, or its performance across all platforms. 

However, despite being one of 2023's best game releases, Diablo 4 isn't perfect, and after spending over 90 hours with the game, I have nit-picked a few things that I believe need to be fixed as soon as possible. 

No way to lock the equipment

The equipment lock mechanic is one of the most subtle quality-of-life additions in modern loot-based games. As you may have guessed, it lets you lock your favorite gear so that you don't accidentally sell or dismantle them.

It's no surprise that the Diablo franchise is the forefather of loot-based games, so you can imagine how shocked I was to find out that this fundamental feature was missing in Diablo 4. It didn't hit me until I accidentally sold one of my Rare Weapons (which I was planning to upgrade to Legendary) that came with all the perks I needed for my build. I don't know if the equipment lock system is on Blizzard's to-do list for this game, but I hope it's there. 

Show side quests on the map

Usually, I prefer self-discovery, but Diablo 4 isn't a story-driven open-world game. It's a grind fest where you aim to become more powerful as quickly as possible. And so, when I boot up this game, I want to spend less time looking through tasks and objectives that can earn me gold, XP, and Renown Points and more time pursuing these. 

Hence, it would be great if the side quests of the regions I have discovered show up on the map. It would have been a different story if the side quests in Diablo 4 were anything more than standard fetch quests, but they are not, which is why the current scenario doesn't make sense.

Negate level-scaling after level 50

Level scaling in Diablo 4 continues to be a topic of debate in the Diablo community. Some veteran fans (and one Bungie dev, apparently) are against it, whereas others don't seem to mind it much. 

I feel like level-scaling up to level 50 or until you finish the campaign is okay because it encourages exploration. Not having a level cap for different regions of the game meant I could explore any part of the open world to complete main missions or side quests whenever I wanted, and for the most part, that's what I did. 

However, this feature doesn't make sense after you reach level 50 because, by this point, you probably have an idea of what kind of build you want. At least I knew what build I wanted to pursue and was ready to tackle more challenging content. I was also excited to experience that power fantasy after hours of grinding to reach level 50 and correcting my build. Even in an end game, pursuing an activity that's a level or two above me robs the excitement of doing it because it feels similar to how things were before level 50. 

While end-game activities like Nightmare Dungeons and Helltides are there, I wish standard open-world activities, like Dungeons, Side Quests, Strongholds, World Events, and World Bosses, would also stop scaling according to my current level. It robs the excitement of pursuing these activities, which shouldn't be the case because everyone needs to grind those anyways for Renown Points. I enjoyed farming Nightmare Dungeons and Helltides because they are both challenging and rewarding, but I was also burned out fairly quickly. It wouldn't have happened if there were other activities I could pursue, but the level-scaling simply didn't give me any incentive to do so. 

For the love of god, more inventory space

This one's a no-brainer, and I'm surprised (and not surprised) that Blizzard hasn't addressed the situation surrounding it. We are getting a Gem Pouch, but that's like putting a bandage on an open wound. 

Inventory Space in MMOs and loot-based RPGs has always been one of the biggest nemeses of the players, and game companies have never failed to take advantage of it. In Fallout 76, you can pay real money for unlimited storage space for crafting materials and ammo, and I wouldn't be surprised if Blizzard finds a way to monetize this much-needed quality-of-life enhancement in Diablo 4.

I also believe plenty of people would be willing to spend money for more inventory space. Whether it's via a morally good practice or a god-awful one, there's no denying the fact that Blizzard needs to increase inventory space in Diablo 4. 

Improve Mount Speed

This is another MMOesque problem without any concrete solution. Unlocking the mount in Diablo 4 is a long-winded process, and after you do that, it's notable quickly that the whole ordeal wasn't really worth it. Your mount in Diablo 4 walks fairly slow, and while you can boost its speed every now and then, most people would prefer walking rather than using this clunky and slow way to travel. 

In Elder Scrolls Online, you can pay huge sums of gold coins (in-game currency) to increase the mount speed. Sadly, there's no way to do that in Diablo 4. Blizzard hasn't addressed the situation, so there's no clear answer on whether you will be able to improve your mount's speed in the foreseeable future in Diablo 4. 

These are some of the biggest problems currently plaguing Diablo 4.  

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